Pectics/claude-i18n

Claude i18n solves a very concrete gap: Claude Web still lacks a Simplified Chinese interface, and this project makes that feel like a native option rather than a pasted-on translation layer. The README is unusually strong for a small extension: it explains the user-facing install paths for Chrome, Edge, releases, source builds, and experimental userscripts, but also goes deep enough into the hook.js / script.js / service.js architecture that contributors can understand how the locale injection and request rewriting actually work. I especially liked that the project documents the cache strategy, version-hash update flow, and the split between main UI strings and Statsig strings instead of hiding that complexity.

The implementation also shows care. The Manifest V3 permission surface is fairly tight, limited to storage plus claude.ai and the project’s Vercel host. service.js uses version metadata and Cache Storage instead of re-fetching large locale files constantly, while apply_translation.mjs validates translated chunks for row mismatches, empty strings, replacement characters, obvious untranslated English, Japanese kana, and placeholder structure. That is exactly the kind of guardrail a 15,000-string localization project needs.

The main place I’d invest next is adoption confidence: add a short testing section that says how releases are verified across Chrome, Edge, Firefox userscripts, and Safari userscripts, and consider adding CI badges or links to the upstream sync workflow. The current docs mention automated upstream diff PRs every six hours, but a visible workflow file or status badge would make maintenance health easier to judge. A small privacy/security note near the install section would also help non-technical users understand why the extension needs its host permissions and what data, if any, leaves the browser. Overall, this is a focused, useful project with unusually thoughtful documentation and a maintenance workflow that matches the problem’s real fragility.